Before paying for a Vietnam e-Visa, compare every identity field with your actual passport and every travel field with your itinerary. If the issued e-Visa later contains an error, do not board assuming airport staff can fix it. Use the current Vietnam Immigration e-Visa portal to review the application or find the official support route. An application receipt, paid fee or “processing” message is not an issued visa.
This guide is for the person who is filling in the form or has spotted a mistake. For the broader question of whether your passport needs a visa and how long you may visit, see Vietnam visas and entry choices.
What can go wrong—and what should you do?
| You discover... | What to do before travelling | What not to assume |
|---|---|---|
| Name/order, date of birth, nationality or passport number differs | Stop and compare with passport identity page. If not yet finalised, correct the active form; if submitted/issued, use Immigration's official enquiry or correction path and get a valid matching document | Airline or border officer will ignore the discrepancy |
| Single entry requested, but you will leave for Laos/Cambodia and return | Before paying, select multiple entry where appropriate; for an issued single entry, obtain lawful permission for the return trip separately | One-entry visa can be used twice because its expiry date is in the future |
| Wrong start/end dates | Compare your flight date with the issued valid-from and valid-until dates and seek an officially corrected/new visa before travel if they do not cover the trip | A 90-day maximum automatically gives 90 days from the day you land |
| Wrong airport, land border or seaport | Check the latest government list of eligible international checkpoints, your chosen port and the actual issued-visa conditions | Every border crossing accepts an e-Visa |
| Fee paid; status still pending or rejected | Check status through the government portal with correct registration details; follow any correction request or official support instruction | Payment equals approval or a refused application must be refunded |
These are decision paths, not a guarantee that every paid application can be changed in place. The outcome depends on the status of the file and Immigration's response.
Apply only on the current official government site
From 11 November 2024, the Immigration Department announced that new applications and result checks move to evisa.gov.vn and thithucdientu.gov.vn; the old portal publishes this notice. The Ministry of Public Security confirmed both domains again in November 2025. Type the official domain yourself and inspect it before uploading a passport or paying. Websites offering “guaranteed same-day official e-Visa” are not official approval channels simply because they use familiar government logos.
The current e-Visa permits up to 90 days, either single or multiple entry, if granted. The current government portal lists USD 25 single-entry and USD 50 multiple-entry application fees, non-refundable if refused. This is the published government filing fee, not a total quoted price from an agent. Don't spend more money solely because a third party says a paid application was approved without an actual approved visa.
The passport review: 90 seconds that can save the trip
Take the physical passport you will actually travel with. On the active application form, match full name and order, sex, date of birth, nationality, passport type and number, issue/expiry dates to the passport exactly as the form requests. Check spaces, name changes, compound surnames and visually similar characters (0/O, 1/I). Where the form asks for a transliterated or machine-readable version, follow that field's own instructions and match the passport; do not blindly remove a surname or replace your legal name with a nickname.
Upload the full passport biodata page and a compliant front-facing portrait per the form's current photo rules. Older Immigration instructions used particular file-size figures, but portals change. Follow the live portal's resolution, size, crop and format prompts, not a screenshot of a previous application screen.
Worked mistake: Your passport says “ANNA MARIA VAN DER MEER”, but an agent types “ANNA MEER” because that fits an old reservation. The booking name and application do not justify omitting part of the passport identity. Fix the application and travel booking information against the actual passport, and do not rely on an unverified agent to decide the acceptable spelling.
Dates, entries and the border gate
Stay validity is not a rolling 90-day allowance. Suppose you requested 10–28 November but the issued visa reads 20 November–15 December. An inbound flight on 12 November is outside the visa's valid-from date, even though the maximum category is 90 days. Likewise, leaving after 15 December would not be made legal by entering late. Read the actual printed dates before checking in.
One entry or multiple? A simple Hanoi → Da Nang domestic flight uses one international entry. Hanoi → Laos → Hanoi involves two international entries. If you are not entitled to visa-free re-entry or another independent lawful entry route, a single-entry e-Visa normally will not cover that return.
Checkpoint: The official e-Visa portal links to the government-designated international checkpoints allowed for e-Visa entry and exit. Match the exact airport, land border or seaport to your flight/bus/cruise plan. If the itinerary changes, verify both the current eligible list and any port entry field/condition on your issued document; do not treat every nearby crossing or unspecified seaport as equivalent.
After submission: status, payment and error recovery
Before final payment: Use the portal's preview/review step, if available, and double-check the passport and travel data. Save the registration code and email used for the application in a secure place.
While pending: Use the official result-check workflow on evisa.gov.vn with the registration details it requests. Historical Immigration help screens show registration code, email and date of birth as search fields, but use whichever fields the current portal actually requests. The older government portal describes an ordinary three-working-day processing period, not a guarantee for incomplete files, holidays or extra review. Do not book a non-refundable onward connection assuming the third business day is a guaranteed approval deadline.
If the portal requests an edit: Follow that specific official correction instruction, resubmit the corrected document if allowed, then wait for a new explicit decision. A rejection reason or “edit” control in a legacy search screen does not mean every final e-Visa can be silently amended or reused.
If issued with a material error: Contact Immigration via the current official portal's support channel and describe the registration number, passport fields, visa number and mismatch. Ask whether the specific case can be corrected or requires a new application and fee. Until an amended or newly approved visa matches the journey, do not board using an incorrect document. An agent's assurance is not a government correction.
If refused: Follow any official reason, correct eligible issues and determine whether a fresh paid application is needed. Vietnam Immigration's official rules state the filing charge is not refunded upon refusal. There is no guaranteed expedited approval or universal appeal outcome.
The preflight check you should actually perform
On the day before travel, open the downloaded approved e-Visa and compare it side-by-side with the passport you carry: identity, passport number, visa entry type, first/last valid dates, selected port conditions and the flight/land/sea crossing. Save an offline digital copy and print the approved e-Visa; the Ministry of Public Security confirms that travellers can print it directly through the electronic system.
If anything still differs materially, resolve it with Immigration before departure rather than guessing the airport will fix it. If you have not yet paid, correct the form first; if paid and pending, follow its actual correction request; if issued incorrectly, obtain an officially valid resolution. That sequence is safer—and far less costly—than arriving at a check-in counter with a receipt rather than the visa you need.